Just seven days ahead of the all-important Asia Cup 2022 opener against India, Pakistan got a jolt of their lives when the news broke that Shaheen Shah Afridi will be ruled out of the tournament. Afridi, who played a huge role in dismantling India’s top order during 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup, could have made a difference, instead, he was sidelined.
Now the question is will his replacement—Mohammed Hasnain, be able to pack a punch. Furthermore, former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria slammed the selectors for the way they handled a ‘world-class pacer.’
“I will blame the captain, I will blame the selection committee and the management. You see, one guy who’s been a wicket-taker, who’s been a phenomenal and he was a world-class fast bowler in the making. But you have to make him rest,” opined Kaneria while speaking to News 18 Cricketnext in an exclusive.
“And now Pakistan is without Shaheen who would have picked up wickets. They now don’t have that quality or that class who can pick the wickets like they had,” he replied when asked about the absence of the lanky pacer.
Speaking of his replacement, Mohammed Hasnain, Kaneria said: “They now have the youngster who just started playing T20s. He is also not taking that many wickets.”
“And now as Shaheen is out, they are bringing back Hassan Ali who is out of form. He was out of the squad because he was not performing well as he was inconsistent and now they don’t have anyone.”
He opined that PCB should have played the likes of Shahnawaz Dahani or Mohammed Hasnain regularly which could have meant rest for the lanky left-armer, citing that Afridi was played on dead tracks in Sri Lanka.
“The selection committee doesn’t give the justification of having Hassan Ali when they had Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammed Hasnain who had the bowling action problem, they should have played them more games and should have rested Shaheen by not playing him in sri lanka on dead track.”
“Pakistan has made a big blunder and now they will suffer more because a knee injury of a fast bowler will take some time to recover.”
Get the latest Cricket News, Schedule and Cricket Live Scores here